The present invention relates generally to data communication. More particularly, the present invention relates to a Class B line driver for communication channels such as those present in an Ethernet network.
Digital-to-analog conversion involves the process of converting digital codes into a continuous range of analog signal levels (voltage or current), for example, as discussed in Chapter 31, “D/A and A/D Converters” of The Electrical Engineering Handbook, ed. Richard C. Dorf, CRC Press 1993, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. A digital-to-analog converter (hereinafter a DAC) is generally an electronic circuit that receives an n-bit codeword from an interface and generates an analog voltage or current that is proportional to the codeword.
One example of a DAC is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,728, entitled A Digital-To-Analog Converter (DAC) and Method that set Waveform Rise and Fall Times to Produce an Analog Waveform that Approximates a Piecewise Linear Waveform to Reduce Spectral Distortion, issued on Sep. 2, 1997, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The DAC of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,728 patent employs a waveform shaping circuit to control the rise and fall times of each component waveform so that the analog waveform rising and falling edges settle to within a desired error bound of a linear output ramp.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,450, entitled A Waveshaping Circuit Using Digitally Controlled Weighted Current Summing, issued on Aug. 10, 1999, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a waveshaping circuit. The waveshaping circuit of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,450 patent includes a controller and a current summing circuit controlled by the controller. The current summing circuitry selectively sinks combinations of component currents in response to a sequence of control signal sets to generate an output current signal having a desired waveform.
Many DACs attempt to generate desired signal waveform in response to a digital signal. For the purposes of this discussion, a signal output may include the output of a DAC and/or the output of one or more signal components within a DAC. For example, a signal component may correspond to an individual bit of a codeword. One conventional method generates a signal output with a slew rate controlled current source, as shown in FIG. 1. The voltage V measured across a resistor R is shown in FIG. 2. The waveform V includes sharp transition areas (e.g., corners) 1, 2 and 3, which may introduce electromagnetic interference. Such interference may inhibit accurate signal processing.
Another circuit which generates an output signal employs a current mirror 10 having an RC filter, as illustrated in FIG. 3. A current source I drives the current mirror 10. Current mirror 10 includes a first transistor 11 and a second transistor 12. Transistors 11 and 12 are preferably CMOS transistors. The first transistor 11 includes gate-to-drain feedback, and is coupled to transistors 12 through the RC filler. The RC filter limits rise and fall times of the input signal I. However, the R and C components are typically process and/or temperature dependent. Such dependence causes variation in the output waveform as shown in FIG. 4. The dashed lines in FIG. 4 represent arbitrary output responses due to temperature and/or process variation. A stable output signal is difficult to obtain with such a circuit.
Many older communications technologies employ bi-level signals, where each signal can have one of only two levels. However, newer communications technologies employ signals having many levels. One such technology, Gigabit Ethernet, employs signals having 17 levels. FIG. 5 depicts a D/A circuit capable of producing such multi-level signals. The D/A circuit of FIG. 5 employs a DAC 32, a low pass filter 34, an operational amplifier 36, a transistor 38, and a resistor 39. Each level of a multilevel input signal is provided to DAC 32 for conversion to an analog signal. The LPF34 then determines the rise time of the output of the DAC 32, and the output is passed to operational amplifier 36. This construction presents two problems. First, the R and C values of LPF 34 will vary with temperature and process variations, and the output signal will have a poor waveshape where the rise times are not constant. Second, since all input current is passed through the same DAC, and since bandwidth is a function of current level, each level of the multilevel signal will present a different rise time. This second problem is illustrated in FIG. 24.
FIG. 24 shows a waveform produced by the D/A circuit of FIG. 5 where DAC 32 has four levels. Because the bandwidth of the circuit is a function of the signal level provided to the non-inverting input of operational amplifier 36, the slew rate differs for each signal level. Referring to FIG. 24 for example, the bandwidth for the transition from the 0 signal level to the 1 signal level is low, resulting in a low slew rate and a long rise time t1. In contrast, the bandwidth for the transition from the 2 signal level to the 3 signal level is high, resulting in a high slew rate and a short rise time t2.
These signal processing problems are not adequately addressed in the art. Accordingly, there is a need for a current source to control an output signal which is independent of temperature and process considerations. There is also a need for a DAC to generate a signal having selectable transition areas (corners). There is a further need of a circuit to generate desirable waveshapes.